International lottery scam: 1 arrested

BHOPAL: The Betul district police have busted an international gang allegedly running a lottery scam in India. One member of the gang based at Lucknow has been arrested and his handler, based in Pakistan, has been identified. Police are suspecting that more people are involved in the scam.

According to police - Neeraj Shrivastava, 35, -- a resident of Lucknow - was arrested from his residence after tracking his movements for the last several days. Charged with cheating and criminal conspiracy, he will be produced in court on Tuesday.

Inspector general of police (IGP) Ajay Sharma said "Neeraj is just a member of the gang and his accomplices are based in Pakistan. We are interrogating him.

Mobile phones recovered from him and call records showed that he was in constant touch with his accomplice in Pakistan - identified as Rehan - on two numbers in Pakistan.

His call details record (CDR) revealed that there was an exchange of 144 calls between Shrivastava and his Pakistani handler.

"We are scrutinizing the calls," said Lalit Shakyavar, superintendent of police (SP) Betul who led the entire operation.